The Burning Building (Standard Operating Procedure Ch. 1 - A Hwiyoung!Tenet AU)
Fun Fact: I actually changed the tense of the piece because I didn’t like how it sounded in present tense HAHA. Anyway, enjoy reading :))
— Erin
Summary: You’re a part of the secretive TENET organization, whose sole purpose is to protect the present from attacks from the future. But when a particular target, Kim Youngkyun, manages to evade you in each mission, you know something is wrong.
So to save the present, you might have to kill what remains of your own humanity.
Chapters: 1) The Burning Building
2) Linear Terms
3) Cat and Mouse
???
Genre: Sci-fi, action, adventure, thriller, slow burn, enemies-to-lovers, angst, non-idol!AU
Word Count: 2,499
You’re glad you brought your knives with you, you thought as you stepped into the strobing lights of the gallery party. Within the large room, gunshots would echo far too loud, giving you away much too easily. Out of instinct, you patted the sheaths for your weapons that sat just beneath your wine red dress, the dress that your employer, Taeyeon, had insisted on buying for you. She’d even added a small smile and a “There’s no need to pay me back”, as she handed the dress to you the other week.
It was almost like she knew you wouldn’t see her again.
But it wasn’t the time to worry about whether or not you would get out of there in one piece. Your gaze swept over the gray-toned gallery, taking in the patrons sitting at the bar in the far corner, as well as those at the small tables scattered around the space, and others who were busy “dancing”. (They weren’t really dancing. More like getting up into each other’s personal space.) Of course, there were those who are thoroughly absorbed in the art, occasionally making small talk with others about the pieces they were interested in.
One of those people was going to slip poison into a particular person’s drink. A particularly powerful person. Taeyeon had gotten word that there would be an assassination attempt on the heir of a powerful electric company, Cha Eunwoo, so she’d sent you in to stop it. To assassinate the assassin. Thankfully, you’d caught a glimpse of the heir almost immediately, but you knew you couldn’t approach him too swiftly, lest you alert whoever was going to attempt to kill him.
So after a moment of silent observation, you grabbed a glass of champagne from a waiter and began to stalk through the crowd. And not a few moments after you started to move, you know you were being tailed. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t prepared for that exact situation, though. As you were observing the party, you weren’t just searching for the target, but also for ways to evade capture. Or death. Coming out of the mission alive would be nice, too.
Something that had caught your eye was a large display of broken glass, which stood suspended by near invisible strings hanging down from the ceiling. Each string was attached to a circular disk attached to the ceiling, which spun in such a way that the iridescent strobe lights reflected off each piece, creating a beautiful display of light. It also gave you the chance to see whoever it was that was tailing you. Not moving any faster, you made your way over to the display, just in time to see someone shove through the crowd just behind you.
Even with the adrenaline pumping into your veins, you didn’t dare to turn to face them. To show that you were afraid the mission would be botched before you could even make contact with Eunwoo.
“A beautiful piece, isn’t it?” The man (you realized), spoke in Korean, his deep tone sliding over your skin and raising goosebumps up and down your arms.
“Indeed”, you replied, and as one of the glass shards began to turn towards you, you finally saw the man’s face. He had the looks of a model, with a razor-sharp jawline and long hair that had been pulled back into a bun. If only to accentuate his stunning appearance, he was in a white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up, displaying his muscular arms. He didn’t need to sneak a weapon in here, you realized, he was probably capable of taking you out with his bare hands, or a knife similar to your own. And considering he hadn’t already stuck one into your back, he was merely the distraction while his team got to Eunwoo.
There was nothing left to do but go for the shock factor.
You turned to face him, hand already slipping down for the knife on your right thigh even as you stepped closer, bringing yourself nearly chest to chest with the man.
“Your team is smart, leaving you as the diversion. Any lesser person might’ve even fallen for it.” You could tell by the stiffening of his body that he was startled. The moment couldn’t go to waste, for you weren’t sure when, or even if, you could catch him off guard again. So with a fluid motion, you unsheathed your knife, swung it forward, and-
Before you could plunge the blade into his stomach like you’d planned to, though, he caught your wrist in a firm grip, twisting it. The knife fell to the ground with a barely audible clatter. “We live in a twilight world.”
And then, even as all hell broke loose, you were stunned into silence.
Going into the mission, Taeyeon had given you a single phrase, one that you hadn’t heard of until she spoke it into your life.
“We live in a twilight world”, she’d said.
The phrase only Eunwoo was supposed to understand when you’d made contact.
Gunshots rang out from the direction you know your target was seated, and you cursed under your breath, desperately trying to pull away from the man. His grip was like a vice, even as the partygoers scrambled toward the exits, some even towards the windows.
“We live in a twilight world,” he reiterated, in English this time, but to you, it was laughable that he thought he’d get the correct response.
“Eat shit,” you muttered instead. The handle was warm in your palm as you used your free hand to grab at the knife on your left side, but once again, the man was fast, if not faster than you. He brought his arms up in front of him, and he let out a hiss of pain as the blade slashed his upper arm. Or perhaps it’d been a hiss of disdain, since he’d given you an opening, and you dove for your discarded knife just as he lunged for you.
The second you hit the ground, you twisted around, kicked out, and tripped the man to the floor. He went down hard, landing on his injured arm, and you scrambled up as he clutched at it, pushing through the crowd, hoping against hope that Eunwoo-
Your thoughts and plans evaporated as you ran smack into the very man at the center of them, and a breath of relief escaped you as he helped you up.
“We live in a twilight world.” He nodded grimly.
“And there are no friends at dusk.”
With that, you were off, leading him towards the back entrance you’d spotted while trying to shake off the man who’d been trailing you. Somehow, impossibly, you managed to make it there with no further mishaps, but despite that fact, you couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease. Like it was too easy, other than the fact that you’d been attacked.
You swung the back door open, and were instantly met with three more men, all Korean, and all as drop dead gorgeous as the first had been.
“Idiot.” You spun, coming face to face with the first man, and you didn’t have time to react before the sound of a trigger, the prick of a dart in your back, and then darkness.
———
The first thought you had when you awoke was not to survey your surroundings. Not to struggle against the cuffs that held your wrists and ankles just a little too tightly.
It was to think about Taeyeon, and the agents she’d send if you hadn’t gotten out of there before the time that you’d set with her. The time she trusted that you would complete the mission by.
As your vision filtered back into focus, you glanced at the clock on the wall opposite you. 11:46 PM. Sixteen minutes after the designated time.
The door behind you clicked open, and you cursed. Of course they’d set you up in this dingy room, barely more than a glorified closet, with your back to the door. “Looks like you fell for it.” The sound of the man’s voice set off a spark of anger somewhere within you, and you gritted your teeth, refusing to speak.
As you did so, you remembered the cyanide pill that sat against your cheek. Your last resort out of the situation, to protect the company that employed you. To protect Taeyeon, who was expecting her first child soon.
The space you were in was barely large enough for the man to pull up a chair opposite you, and even then, his knees were nearly brushing yours. Enough space for you to launch a counterattack at him, and he and his team knew this. They thought they were so goddamn smart, and that pissed you off.
“Tell me about yourself.”
“You first.”
The man chuckled, and the small smile that passed over his face only served to make him more attractive. It turned your stomach to think of how many of his past victims he must have lured in with his looks alone.
“I’m Hwiyoung.”
He stumbled over the introduction, very slightly, but it didn’t matter. You’d caught it.
“That’s not your real name.”
“You won’t be alive long enough to find out what it is.”
A beat of silence passed, and you drew in a breath. Given the way he leaned forward, “Hwiyoung” probably expected you to speak. Instead, you spat on his shiny black shoes.
“My wish for you to eat shit still stands.” “Hwiyoung” let the following quiet grow much too awkward, and then, to your disgust, grabbed your chin, forcing you to meet his eyes. His gaze seemed to travel deep within your conscience, far past the level of intimidation to something almost like… familiarity.
In a similar way, your disgust transcended a mere knee-jerk reaction as his thumb pressed against your lips. If you were any less of a human, you’d probably bite him.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he whispered, and suddenly, you knew. He must have seen the silver flash of the cyanide when you opened your mouth to spit. Either way, there was no way in hell you’d let yourself be subject to this treatment any longer, and a long-suppressed memory resurfaced. If you were to ever find yourself in a situation like this, even with your arms and legs tied, you could still move.
So that’s exactly what you did. “Hwiyoung” didn’t expect it when you opened your mouth, but before he could extract the pill, you jerked your head back, shifting it to the back of your throat. His eyes widened, and the last thing you saw before falling unconscious was the pure rage on his face.
——
Death felt surprisingly like a hospital bed. You’d found yourself in one of them many, many times before, so you wouldn’t be surprised if you encountered one more in the afterlife. But as your eyes fluttered open, you knew you weren’t dead by the headache that flared behind your temples, brought on by the bright lights of… wherever you were.
“Oh.” The beeping of the monitor next to you sped up a good amount as you jumped, looking up at the source of the voice. At first glance, you sincerely believed it was another of Hwiyoung’s gang members, but from whatever look you’d had, the woman shook her head. She was Asian, and stunningly gorgeous, her straight black hair pulled into a high ponytail. She was the kind of pretty that could bring a man, or woman, to their knees without even needing to speak a word. “Glad to see you’re with us. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Joohyun, but people call me Irene.” You cringed, not needing to know why, but she decided to say it anyway, “It’s easier, apparently.”
“Nice to meet you, Joohyun. I’m-“
“We know who you are, Y/N.” She straightened up from where she stood leaning against the wall of… seriously, where the hell were you? “What we don’t know is how you survived.”
Her words gave you pause in your readied response, because Joohyun was right. How had you survived the cyanide pill?
“Dunno. Maybe I just have an immunity to lethal chemicals.”
Her eyebrow raised ever so slightly, but she didn’t smile or laugh at your joke, instead gesturing to a small paper cup of water that sat on the small tray next to you. Nodding your thanks, you took a sip, but nearly spit it back out as she said, “The pill was purposely faulty. I meant to say, how did you survive SF9?”
So that was their name. SF9.
Honestly, it sounded dorky. Not really a name that would strike fear into the hearts of whoever heard it. But the truth of the matter was that-
“I… I don’t know.” You hated not knowing. Not knowing meant others, maybe a lot of others, were smarter than you. And in your line of business, not knowing might leave you dead. Like, actually dead.
Joohyun sighed. “The gallery was a test, Y/N. You ran into the burning building with no hesitation. Metaphorical, of course. And we’d had it all planned up until you came into contact with Hwiyoung.”
The questions beginning to pile up strained your still bleary mind.
“Who’s we?”
For whatever reason, Joohyun smiled a small, fond smile, and folded her hands together, interlacing her fingers.
“We’re Tenet. Combine the name with this gesture,” she nodded towards her hands, “and it’ll open a lot of doors. Mostly the right ones, but if you’re lucky, some of the wrong ones, too.”
You didn’t think that would be luck.
Now, for your second question.
“Where am I?” From what you’d managed to gather, you were somewhere cold, but that’d been it. There was a heater in the corner of the room, and thick blankets covered your, yep, hospital bed.
“A cabin up in Norway. And as far as the government is concerned, no one lives here,” Joohyun explained, and you nodded slowly, still trying your hardest to process all of this. “I’ll be heading out soon. There’s a town about a ten minute drive away, and you’ve got some fake IDs and such in the kitchen. We’ll call for you when the time comes.”
Wait. Joohyun couldn’t leave yet.
“What about Hwiyoung? How’d you get me out of there if it hadn’t been a part of your…” you scrambled for the word, “initiation test?” She grimaced as she turned away from the doorway to face you again.
“A lot of blood, sweat, and tears from some of our best agents.”
“They’re alive.” Not a question. A statement. You weren’t sure how well you’d take it if people you didn’t know had sacrificed themselves for you.
“Yes.”
“Tell me about Hwiyoung.”
Joohyun shook her head. “Rest for now.” With that, she was gone, the door closing behind her with a soft click.